A judge in a Barrie, Ont., court has sentenced a trucking company manager and truck owner to five years in prison for the death of a dump truck driver in 2020.

Milton Urgiles, 48, of Etobicoke was sentenced Feb. 18, according to an Ontario Provincial Police news release.

Urgiles was convicted of criminal negligence causing the death of the dump truck driver who worked for Urgiles the day his tire blew, and the truck crashed into a ditch south of Alliston, CTV reported.

Denis Garant, 53, was killed instantly. He was a husband and father to a young boy. His widow’s victim impact statement described being traumatized and left in financial peril.

The crash investigation found that the supervisor and manager of the company who owned the CVOR for the involved commercial vehicle, failed to properly maintain the truck, resulting in a mechanical failure that ultimately lead to the collision.

Driver concerned about steering issue

Urgiles was found to have ignored Garant’s text the night before the fatal crash expressing his concern about an issue with the dump truck’s steering, according to CTV. Urgiles testified he checked the vehicle and shifted the blame to driver error.

The judge noted that if a mechanic had inspected the truck it wouldn’t have been on the road that day, adding “the collision would not have happened.”

An expert witness previously told the court there was an alignment issue with the truck and it should not have been on the road based on the poor condition of the tire. The expert said there wasn’t enough structural support in the weakened tire to sustain an impact.